19 contenders to be the next great British sitcom in 2019

2018 was a strong year for the British sitcom, with Derry Girls dazzling audiences and Karl Pilkington taking us by surprise with his funny but poignant Sick of It.

But barely a week into 2019 and already we've lost the superb People Just Do Nothing, with Catastrophe also soon to bow out. There's a hole to be filled – in the telly schedules, and in our hearts. So which of this year's new comedies might become the next big thing? These are the serious contenders.

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1. Warren

BBC One

BBC

Earning rave reviews right now for his dramatic turn in ITV's Manhunt, Martin Clunes will return to sitcom for the first time in a decade, playing the title character, a pedantic driving instructor who thinks the world is against him, in Warren.

Here's hoping it's more Men Behaving Badly than Reggie Perrin.

2. Sliced

Dave

Dave

Starring and co-written by BAFTA nominee Samson Kayo (Timewasters, Famalam), Sliced is an original sitcom from Dave, devised by Kayo and PhoneShop creator Phil Bowker.

Kayo and Theo Barklem-Biggs [above] play best mates who work as pizza delivery drivers in South London and can't seem to help stumbling from one ridiculous situation to the next.Hungry for laughs? This might be just the thing.

3. Sex Education

Netflix

Sam Taylor/Netflix

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Asa Butterfield plays a high school virgin who lives with his sex therapist mother (played by Gillian Anderson) and teams up with a schoolmate to set up a clinic for other students' "weird and wonderful problems".

Out this Friday (January 11), Sex Education is "funny and sexy" with "charming" performances according to early reviews, even earning comparisons to John Hughes' movie oeuvre. We love it.

4. Dead Pixels

Channel 4

BBCSophie Mutevelian

One of the more innovative sitcoms on our list, Dead Pixels will blend live action with animation to tell the story of three friends – Alexa Davies (Raised by Wolves), Will Merrick (Skins) and Charlotte Ritchie (Fresh Meat) – and their obsession with a fantasy role-playing game. Peep Show creators Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong are on executive-producer duties.

5. Intelligence

Sky One

Sky

“I have no idea what this show is about but if it’s called Intelligence, naturally I’m going to be part of it," quipped David Schwimmer, cast as a maverick NSA agent in this spy spoof, created by and co-starring British actor / comedian Nick Mohammed. Expect a culture-clash comedy set in the world of espionage.

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6. Turn Up Charlie

Netflix

Nick Wall/Netflix

Dropping March 15, Turn Up Charlie casts Idris Elba (who also co-created the series) as a struggling DJ and life-long bachelor whose best shot at success might come via an unexpected avenue – working as a 'manny' for his famous best friend's troublesome daughter.

7. Back to Life

BBC Three

BBC

Can you ever really start again? Back to Life has series co-creator Daisy Haggard play a woman released back into society after an 18-year jail stint and attempts to rekindle old relationships in her seaside hometown. We're promised "off-beat humour" in this series co-written by comedian Laura Solon and from the executive producers of Fleabag.

8. Happy AF

Channel 4

Matt Crossick/EMPICS Entertainment

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Trying to pull her life back together after a “teeny little nervous breakdown", Aine (Aisling Bea) is our lead in Happy AF, "a comedy about moving on, moving forward and trying to find happiness" that promises to make laugh till we cry and just flat-out cry.

Joining the very funny Bea – who's also written the series – is the also very funny Sharon Horgan, so we're expecting something a bit special.

9. Hitmen

Sky One

Getty ImagesStuart C Wilson

Hitmen is a series about two friends who have stumbled into a career in contract killing. And the lead roles are played by Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc. If that doesn't at least have you curious, then, frankly, we give up. (Mel and Sue can, according to the show's executive producer, "brandish bullets and banter brilliantly in equal measure".)

10. After Life

Netflix

Netflix

Ricky Gervais will be joined by an all-star cast – David Bradley, Diane Morgan and his old Extras and Derek cast-mates Ashley Jensen and Kerry Godliman – in this Netflix original series.

When his wife Lisa suddenly dies, easy-going Tony (Gervais) changes his outlook on life, deciding to punish the world by saying and doing whatever he likes from now on. With a premise like that, we can't see After Life swaying any of Gervais's critics, but fans are eagerly anticipating a burst of undiluted Ricky.

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11. Don't Forget the Driver

BBC Two

Mike Marsland/WireImage

Described as a "dark comedy" set in Bognor Regis, Don't Forget the Driver has been created by award-winning playwright Tim Crouch and Toby Jones, who'll star as Peter Green, a coach driver and single dad whose humdrum life is thrown into disarray by a new arrival in town... and the discovery of a dead body on the shore.

The award-winning actor will *also* play Peter's Australian expat twin brother, just in case you were questioning his commitment to the project.

12. Home

Channel 4

Wiktor Szymanowicz / Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Written by and starring W1A's Rufus Jones (seriously, is nobody just a single threat these days?), Home is describing as a "deftly surprising modern sitcom" which will see Jones' character Peter and his family take in Sami, a Syrian refugee who enters Britain illegally to claim asylum. Big issues to tackle, particularly in a comedy, but we've got faith in Jones.

13. Breeders

Sky One

BBC

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Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard (again!) will star in this new comedy from Sky and US broadcaster FX, a 10-part series that promises to expose the paradox of parenting, "that it is possible, in the same moment, to love your child to the horizon of the universe, while being apoplectically angry enough to want to send them there".

14. Ghosts

BBC One

BBC/Monumental Pictures/James Betts

From the writer-performers behind Horrible Histories and the weird and wonderful Yonderland comes Ghosts, a horror-tinged comedy about a young couple's dream to turn a derelict house into a bustling family hotel... and the phantoms determined to oust them. This promises to be a house-share sitcom with a difference.

15. Brassic

Sky One

Channel 4

Joe Gilgun has co-created this new series loosely based on his own experiences with Ordinary Lies writer Danny Brocklehurst, with Michelle Keegan and Being Human's Damien Molony co-starring in an edgy comedy about loyalty, laughter and life in the North.

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16. Year of the Rabbit

Channel 4

Channel 4

Matt Berry playing a hardened booze-hound detective in Victorian-era London? Sign us up!

Year of the Rabbit will pair Berry with Freddie Fox (Cucumber) and Susan Wokoma (Chewing Gum) as a crime-solving trio who rub shoulders with street gangs, crooked politicians, Bulgarian princes, spiritualists, music hall stars and the Elephant Man.

17. Scarborough

BBC One

ITV

The creator of ITV's Benidorm, Derren Litten, is jumping over to the Beeb for this new six-part sitcom about the residents of a North Yorkshire beach resort, where the locals gather in a karaoke bar to swap gossip and belt out '80s classics.

And if you think Scarborough sounds similar-ish to his last effort, Litten has promised that the show "is going to surprise a few people, and in a very good way".

18. Frayed

Sky One

Starring and – you guessed it – written by Australian comic Sarah Kendall, Frayed follows her character Simone as her picture-perfect life in 1980s London falls apart following her husband's death. Ending up broke and homeless, Simone returns home to Australia, where it transpires that she might have been lying about her past...

Robert Webb and Philomena Cunk's alter-ego Diane Morgan will also appear in this six-part series co-commissioned by Australian network ABC.

19. Mister Winner

BBC

The ironically named Leslie Winner is our 'hero' in Mister Winner, starring Spencer Jones as a good-spirited klutz who, despite his best efforts, always ends up in trouble. Lucy Pearman plays his fiancée Jemma, with none other Shaun Williamson (Barry!) cast as Jemma’s father Chris.

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